All faiths teach us to welcome and help our ‘neighbors,’ be they refugees or Idaho natives
Sometimes, I just wonder how some people came to the positions they hold.
Take the subject of refugees, for instance, here in our state. In September 2019, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to require state and local consent for refugee resettlement. Twin Falls and Boise, the only Idaho towns with resettlement programs, asked Gov. Brad Little to approve continuation of the existing programs. To his credit, he agreed, as did 19 other Republican governors.
To be clear, what Gov. Little did was agree to the continuance of existing programs, successfully integrating immigrants into our country and culture. In his words, “The only thing I did was basically allow the two communities that wanted to do that to accept refugees. ... I just said they requested it, and it’s OK with me.”
Here’s where I start wondering about people’s responses, which seem so mean-spirited, so counter to the spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood taught by religious and spiritual traditions. . Little’s office received dozens of calls and letters opposing the very idea of foreigners in our country. Never mind that almost all of the opposition was based on untruths and racist assumptions. The people railing against refugees always sound scared and/or mean, vigorously (sometimes viciously) declaring that “we” must fight against all the “thems” who come here looking for safety and a better life.
It seems so important for those of us who disagree with the haters to declare ourselves committed to higher ground, remembering the many religious traditions that speak of embracing the stranger. Hebrew Scripture teaches love for the foreigner because “you were foreigners in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33-34). Christian Scripture reports that Jesus and his disciples were itinerants. When asked “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan, a foreigner who treated a badly beaten man as the foreigner would have wished to be treated (Luke 10:25-37). The Quran teaches doing “good to ... those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer that you meet” (4:36).
More practically, we can — even at this relatively late date — communicate with the governor’s office, encouraging him to continue supporting policies that welcome people to our fair state.
We can become aware of the churches and other organizations that work toward welcoming the stranger, and we can support them. Hillview Methodist has a community garden, as does Ahavath Beth Israel, our local Jewish house of worship. The Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has successfully gotten an asylum seeker out on bond, established him in a supportive home, and will support him in health, language learning, finding friends and in his asylum-seeking process.
The Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Twin Falls has been a big supporter — giving time, talent and treasure — to the CSI Refugee Center. On April 15, it will sponsor the second evening of “Refugee Stories,” hearing of the struggles, the journey, the losses, and the hopes for themselves and their families.
There are Boise refugee gardens sponsored by Reform Judaism, the Lutheran Church and the Girl Scouts, among others.
The first principle of my Unitarian Universalist faith is an affirmation of “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” We believe, with Unitarian forefather Thomas Jefferson, that the creator has endowed all people with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All people, not just the ones who are like us.
The worth and dignity of all people. Welcoming the stranger. Remembering the foreigner in Jesus’ story, the good man who helped the one who had been beaten. Doing good to neighbor, stranger and wayfarer. May we all, of whatever spiritual tradition, remember the compassion underlying these teachings, and may we work to welcome refugees into our land.
This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 9:00 AM.